Winter
by xLilim
Summary: The Kuronuma ancestors hid 7 cursed artifacts throughout the continent - a set that ensures great power to the shinobi clans coveting them - and Yui's been entrusted with the 8th, an innocuous sphere, and because of it she's been damned to an eternity in her tower with overprotective bodyguards until she meets Hatake Kakashi and he leaves her with a promise. KakashiOC / On Hiatus /
1. Prologue 01: Tales of Winter

**Disclaimer**: Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto; OCs, non-canon plot © xLilim

**Warning**(**s**): Violence, abuse, suggestive themes, adult situations, lemons/limes, character deaths, alternate universe and parallel universes. There is a possibility that this will contain various other Character/OC pairings as well as a one-side love square (everyone is in unrequited love with each other, which I think it's the funniest thing in life), as well as the canon oneside KakashiRin and ObitoRin.

******xl note**: Hi, I do this often._**  
**_

This story is a slow starter, builds up as it goes along, and starts when the cast if fairly young. Get ready to grow up alongside with them (don't worry, I won't drag it on).

**Winter** takes place in the same universe as **Redesign **(an ongoing MadaraOC series), in which this series is considered its prequel for reasons shrouded in mystery. If you're an avid **Redesign **reader - look at me using "avid" and "reader" side by side as if it were true - rest assured, you will receive no spoilers from that series here probably until many chapters. So if you're looking for something interesting to do, you can try to figure out how the two are related.

The sole connection the two series will have is the involvement of the Kuronuma, Motou and Ito clan.

You really don't know how happy I am things turned out the way they have in the manga with Tobi being who he is and how this is just going to be pure gold when I get to that part of the series, whereas before it was sounding a lot creepy. But ignore me, read this and I hope you enjoy it.

* * *

**Winter **| Prologue **01** | Tales of Winter

_"Our village was small, but our people were plenty," _said Kuronuma Emi, a woman with thick hair as white as the snowy planes of her childhood home. Her skin was olive toned and her eyes a pale amethyst. She looked younger than her forty-seven years, but that was accounted by her duty as Shugosha, one remained at their prime for as long as they needed to be. _"Our homes were made of felt covers and thick fabric held together by timber frames. Each home was decorated in the loveliest fabrics and carpets from several merchant caravans in the east and our days were warmed by burning coals and covering our walls in black water." _She expelled a breath, holding her granddaughter's eager gaze. _"If you climbed the hillside and looked upon our modest village, it was like beholding a globe of ice and the tiny white domes coating its vastness."_

Emi stroked her granddaughter's short black hair, delighted by the interest in the child's rose-colored stare. _"Winters in Mt. Hyōga were eternal. Our years were divided by the storms we endured, not by seasons as it is here in Konohagakure. No, things were different there—months of peaceful cold, months of terrible blizzards, and months of darkness—we endured many dangers, but despite it all, we were happy there. It was our home."_

She trailed off into silent nostalgia, recalling her childhood rushing up the tallest hillside shouting whenever their clan leader returned hoping to catch at least a glimpse of the woman.

_"Then why are we in Konohagakure?"_ asked Yui curiously. _"Why are we living here instead of Mt. Hyōga?"_

_"Because this is our home now," _Emi tried to explain.

_"Why?" _she persisted, small hands clutching at her skirts.

_"If it wasn't for this village and its leaders, we might not have survived in this world," _replied Emi. _"We were saved and brought here by our clan's leader. She wanted us to have a better life and we found one here."_

Yui seemed content with the response. _"Do you think we can go there?" _The small girl flopped onto her back, stretching her arms and legs. _"Do you think the Elders will let us visit Mt. Hyōga?"_

Emi set aside her patchwork and smoothed her granddaughter's hair away from her forehead. _"Forgive me, I don't think that'll be possible."_

_"Why not?" _Yui demanded, the devastation reseated her. _"You have grandpa and my uncle protecting you and I-I have"—_tears welled in her pink-hued eyes—_"I have bodyguards too, grandpa said he picked them and they're supposed to protect us, so why can't we leave this place?"_

She wiped a lone tear from Yui's cheek. _"Our place is here as Shugosha of the Kuronuma clan." _Emi reached to touch the sphere strung from her neck, a glass artifact with a heavenly glow that had bottled a pale mist that spun restlessly. _"Our duty is to protect this sphere, and in turn, our bodyguard's protect us. We need to stay here. It is far too dangerous for us to leave the compound. So please, Yui, don't cry."_

Her grandchild dreamt of leaving the compound. She had dreams of meeting the village children and making friends. She thought she'd be allowed to enter the Ninja Academy to become a kunoichi, but things didn't work that way within the Kuronuma clan. Children were trained within the compound in a school run by a council of elders because teaching Kuronuma descendants with the conglomeration of Konohagakure clans once ended disastrously. Even then, Yui would not leave their home. She would learn within her home.

Understanding the reclusive fate awaiting her grandchild, Emi enveloped Yui in her arms as the girl cried frustrated tears. She patted her back gently. _"You are far too young to understand what it means to be a Shugosha, but you will."_ She tugged the girl away, wiping the tears from her granddaughter's puffy eyes. _"I'll help you understand everything in time."_

Emi held the child in her arms listening to her sniffling as she ran her fingers through her silken black hair. The sphere around her neck glowed brightly when it came in contact with Yui's fingertips. It called to her.

The artifact chose its Shugosha and it picked Yui from the minute of her birth.

* * *

Kuronuma Yui's job was to listen and learn that the stories her grandmother told her since her birth were lessons and not a way to fuel her imagination. Her existence in this world was simple; she would one day replace her grandmother, Emi, as Shugosha. She'd become the guardian-protector of the nameless glass sphere dangling from her grandmother's neck. Their duty was to exist in the heart of the Kuronuma compound within the black stone walls surrounding their three-floor manse, which meant Yui's dreams of visiting the elusive Mt. Hyōga were thwarted because she was born bound to the sphere and a village wrapped in fire.

Nevertheless, Yui cried and begged and attempted a dozen self-appointed missions to exit the Shugosha manse, but for each failed escape, her uncle, Okita, scolded her while practically dragging her back to Emi in the hopes of butchering the fight in her.

Yui picked verbal fights with him on a normal basis and blew raspberries to make sure he knew she wasn't the least bit pleased by his barbaric behavior because he was currently involved in a losing battle. Her authoritative figures consisted of Emi, her grandmother, who was too pacifistic to admonish her, and Shinra, her grandfather, her accomplice. Shinra was usually the only person able to chase Okita away, time and time again, with fake message from the Elders or rumors of inter-compound scuffles that needed settling.

Failure did not deter Yui from her objective. She at least wanted to see the village once if the Elders planned to keep her locked in the house for the rest of her life. And every morning after lectures, she executed a new plan of escape.

Today meant using a tree.

Yui huffed and puffed as she wrapped her arms around one of the branches of the robust black-barked tree that stood tall. Several of its tired limbs sat across the tiled rooftop of her house. She teetered dangerously on the thickest branch as she reached for the dangling limb closest to the roof. If she could hoist herself on it, no matter the strain on her arms, she could easily jump onto the rooftop from there. There was a slight probability that she would either struggle some more or fall into the bushes below. She calculated enough and asked her grandfather to stay put. He was a graying older man whose hair was once as onyx as his eyes and his sense of responsibility was greatly overshadowed by his idea of enjoying life to the fullest.

Shinra sat on the stairs of the open-sided hallways surrounding the garden, strumming an instrument in a melodious, almost distracting tune.

Yui wrapped her hands over the branch above her head and she pulled her upper body up, feeling something pointy tear through the fabric of her white robe. She elevated herself after a short struggle and swung her foot over the branch finally grasping on tight. She seated herself awkwardly, embracing the tree's trunk with a cry of excitement. She looked down to her grandfather's shiny black eyes as a smile split across her face.

"Did you see that?" she called breathlessly. "Did you? Did you?"

Shinra nodded. "But your robes are torn and you're covered in scratches," he said tonelessly. "Don't you think the people will question your disheveled state?"

Yui fished a blue coin purse from inside her robes and showed it to her grandfather. "I've brought all of my savings! I'll just buy new clothes."

He smiled in approval. "You'll fit right in."

"Yea—"

A shoji slid open noisily, a voice emerging with it. "Father, I've—WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"

Yui sat latched onto the tree in her failed attempt to camouflage, but her uncle had exited from the first door opposite of the black-barked tree where he had the best view of it. He spotted her far too quickly and as her grandfather rooted her on from the ground, Okita rushed across the garden to pluck her out of the leaves. Yui tightened her grip on the tree as her uncle joined her on the branch, both of his hands going to her waist and pulling. She protested as loudly as possible, crying out to her grandfather for help.

"You're overreacting, Okita," remarked Shinra calmly. "Yui is simply climbing trees. All children climb trees—"

"Oh, shut up, I know you're her accomplice! The Elders will hear of this!" snapped Okita. "Let go of the tree, Yui!"

"Can't I just walk around the compound?" she begged. "I just want to see the streets and the shops and meet the people!"

"You think you deserve to ask such a thing when you can't memorize your scrolls!"

"I don't care about scrolls! I want to play with the other kids!"

Shinra strummed his instrument louder as he sighed. "There is no reason Yui should be excluded from society, she doesn't possess the sphere—"

"These are the laws of the clan!" shouted Okita, jerking his niece off the tree. He jumped off, landing safely on the ground where he placed her on her feet. "You wouldn't understand. You weren't born a Kuronuma."

Yui stuck her tongue out at her uncle and stomped over to seat herself besides her grandfather, who gazed at his fingers in wonder before answering. "No, I wasn't," he admitted. "I was born in a clan with stricter laws, but even they wouldn't have banned a child from leaving their home, nor would they have separated said child from her parents. If you wish me to take my complaints to the Elders, I will, and if they won't listen, I'll make them."

Shinra set aside his instrument and patted his granddaughter's shoulder as he rose from his seat. He met his son on the garden path and placed both hands on his shoulders with an unfazed look on his face. "Now, you came here to say something. What is it?"

"The Guard is coming to observe Yui."

"You have come and are observing her, so may we leave?" Shinra suddenly laughed. "What am I saying? I'm your father, Yui, let's get you a change of clothes. We can make lunch and argue with the Elders to let us go to the park afterwards."

Her grandfather picked her up in his arms and she slumped over his shoulder, sticking her tongue out at her uncle as they crossed the threshold into the house.

"Yui's Guard," Okita corrected, forcing his father to a halt. Yui looked from her grandfather's face to her uncle's flabbergasted. "Hatake Sakumo agreed to be its leader."

Shinra regarded his son with a strangely blank but brooding expression. Yui, in her confusion, cupped her hand near her grandfather's ear. "Grandpa," she whispered. "Is that a good thing?"

He nodded. "It's a surprising thing," he admitted gravely. "I asked him as a joke. I never thought he would consider having the time to take care of you."

"You what?" Okita demanded.

"I imagined leadership would fall upon Etsuya. It was our best choice since he is responsible, organized and reliable," explained Shinra. "He would have done well, but I suppose if Hatake Sakumo wants the job, who are we to object to someone of his fame and caliber. He is an exemplary leader with unmatched capabilities. Besides, he has a son Yui's age; he should be more than aware of how children behave. Etsuya lacks patience, he probably would have quit anyway."

"But you just—"

"I mean what I said," Shinra interjected.

Yui drank in the information; though she could not be sure she understood it completely. She nodded her head to make it seem like she did so she wouldn't receive judging looks from her uncle.

"Have we heard from the other three?"

"Goro is more than pleased to have his sons on the Guard," remarked Okita. He looked as though he was still in disbelief. "The boys excel in the Kuronuma arts, specifically the oldest. He's on a level of his own, far smarter and stronger than the others in my group. And you have already been given Uchiha Fugaku's response."

Shugosha were required to have five shinobi on their Guard with one serving as its leader. Their duty was keeping the Shugosha safe at all costs. It was customary to have at least one family member within the Guard of Kuronuma roots, but she wasn't sure she had family apart her grandparents, her uncle Okita and her aunt Isoko. As far as she knew, she was born within the manse where she was raised to parents that may not have wanted her because of the troubles attached to her destiny. Laws could be broken for a good cause, she learned that from her grandfather and she hated to think that her mother and father decided to abandon her to her grandparents by a law.

"Are the boys coming?" asked Shinra.

Okita nodded. "Goro and Asuka will be here as well."

Shinra looked grim. "I will have Yui ready for their arrival. Please inform me once Hatake Sakumo is here. I want to seem indifferent with everyone else."

Okita grunted in affirmation.

"Is there something else on your mind?" asked Shinra, about to step away.

"Did you really ask Hatake Sakumo as a joke?"

Yui heard her grandfather sigh in disappointment. "You truly underestimate me, boy."

The walk across many crisscrossing hallways and up a flight of stairs was silent. Yui opted to settle her sudden surge of curiosity. It was best. At the mention of parents, her face lit up in the hopes that they had been hers Shinra and Okita were talking about and not someone else. Despite the fact that she had been left in her grandparents care, she had always wanted to meet her mother and father, but nobody talked about them and they never came around to look for her. She never asked to avoid being considered a bother, but she was always curious.

"Grandpa, can you tell me about my parents?" asked Yui softly.

"I can," answered Shinra dutifully, "but wouldn't you rather hear about how I scared your grandmother half to death this morning?"

She giggled, but shook her head. "No, I wanna hear about my mom and dad. Please tell me about them. Please, grandpa."

Shinra remained silent as they entered her room. He set her down and asked her to find a change of clothes while he chose his words. "Your mother is my oldest and your father comes from the original line of Shugosha before your great-great grandfather, Musashi, of course," he started calmly. "I do admit to some favoritism for your mother, but then you came along and took her place."

Yui pulled out fresh clothes to dress into and seated herself in front of her grandfather, bundling up the fabrics on her lap. He didn't tell her the things she wanted to know. She wanted to ask them, even though her heart thumped wildly in her chest. She debated them, looking all around her messy room.

"What is it you want to know?" he asked, reading the question in her expression.

"Why don't they visit me?" she blurted. "Is it because I'm a Shugosha or because they didn't want me?"

She stared up at him nervously, awaiting his answer and fearing the worst.

Shinra smiled lightly. "You have good parents—great parents—so you shouldn't be anxious to know more about them because you'll meet them soon. They are good people."

She swallowed the lump in her throat, feeling deflated. "Why didn't they want me?"

She felt her grandfather's calloused hand on her cheek and his bright onyx eyes dim. "They would be fools not to want you," he said, grabbing her nose playfully. "It's only that Kuronuma laws are hard to break, so they haven't been able to see you, but when they do, you will see that they love you much more than you could have ever imagined."

Yui felt it as her heart sunk into her stomach. He lied.

* * *

* **Shugosha**, lit. "Guardian" or "Protector." The absolute meaning of the word is "a person who defends something (a person, organization, treasure, etc) from physical threat or foreign enemy."


	2. Prologue 02: Dream of Giants

**xl**: Due to the time it took me to post a follow-up to the first chapter, I decided to keep it a tad short contrary to the outline. Anyhow, with this, I have officially update every story (not on hiatus) this month and that makes me proud.

Loads of thanks to **bloody bint** for reviewing the previous chapter. :)

Please enjoy this humble offering of mine.

* * *

Prologue **02** | Dream of Giants

Yui sat on the steps leading into the small garden reciting the contents of the scroll unfurled in her grandfather's hands. She'd been asked to memorize it last week as a part of her educational lessons and would be asked to repeat it to her grandmother verbatim tomorrow evening. She struggled to remember the key points, stumbling over words. She stuttered and added new phrases until at one point, she started talking about owning an imaginary dog with a giant bow for a collar.

Shinra merely smiled in amusement without any intention of correcting her mistakes.

Okita emerged from the opposite corridor with a trio of unfamiliar and surprisingly non-Kuronuma shinobi. The distraction caused her to forget the line after the first piece she actually recalled in correct order so she merely said what she saw. "Uncle and three strangers appeared and grandpa's told me to keep going but I don't remember anything else."

She followed them with her gaze.

Shinra grinned in response, he gestured for Okita to escort the men down the open-sided walkway and into the gaping entrance behind her where they were seated around a squared table.

"You stopped reciting, Yui," said Shinra sternly.

"Do I get a hint?" she asked.

"You were talking about affinities," he reminded her. "Can you tell me your sphere's affinity? Start there."

Yui scrambled out of her seat, shooting a look over her shoulder at the men as discreetly as possible. Two were Uchiha, she saw the clan's insignia sewn on their clothes after they passed, and the other was gray-haired, despite not being an old man, with observant eyes and a kind face.

She snatched the scroll from her grandfather's hands, too nervous to continue with her lesson. "I haven't gotten that far," she whispered harshly. "Can I go now?"

"Go?" he asked, turning her towards the entrance by the shoulders. "Of course not, come, you have to be present when your Guard's been assembled. For now, I'll introduce you to the first three."

Shinra led her into the room despite her reluctance and greeted each, though the oldest of the Uchiha looked upon him acrimoniously. And his regard did not go unnoticed or without comment.

"The one delighted to see me here is Fugaku, almost leader of his clan if I can help it, but of course, he does command the Konoha Military Police Force," he introduced, waving to the glaring man in question who redirected his attention to her with an air of indifference. He gave off a standoffish feel that made her awkward with just standing in front of him. "He can't help the glare, it's his—"

"And I'm Etsuya," interjected the younger Uchiha, a man in his early twenties with an angular face and curly dark hair. "Can we get along with this uncle? I have a meeting with father in two hours."

"Then you'll be pleased to know outsiders aren't allowed to stay within the Shugosha's home longer than an hour," he told him, catching the confused look on her face. "He's my brother's son. That makes him your cousin and last I checked that's family, so you were worried over nothing."

She frowned, humiliated by his disclosure of the worst of her worries. She slapped his hand away when he tried to pat her in the head before introducing the last shinobi at the table.

"Finally, this is Hatake Sakumo; you've been the talk of all the Elders," Shinra presented.

"I'm sure you instigated most of this chatter." Sakumo gave him an accusing look before smiling at Yui. "I never expected for you to be so young, how old are you?"

"Almost eight," she answered, wondering if she could ask Etsuya about her grandfather's side of the family. She didn't know much of the Uchiha clan because she was raised under Kuronuma principals due to her being the Shugosha and her grandfather was a secretive man.

"Is she in the academy?" Sakumo asked.

"No," answered Shinra, earning a skeptical look from his audience. "It is highly unlikely for a Shugosha to have any need to leave this place, so the Elders find it unnecessary for her to attend the academy."

"Is she learning anything at all?" queried Fugaku.

"Only to read, you see, she's not very good at it."

Yui slapped his back hard causing him to stumble forward. "I _can _read!"

He rubbed his back with an unpleasant look. "I must warn you, despite not having the proper schooling, she is stronger than most children her age," he said informatively. "You'd best steer clear of her trajectory if she is in mid-tantrum unless you want to be hurled across the room."

"I'm telling grandma you're spreading lies about me," she told him when the door across the garden opened a second time.

Shinra excused himself to greet the last of their guests. Yui idled nervously before the three shinobi and when Etsuya and Sakumo tried engaging her in conversation, she panicked and sped off after her grandfather.

She nearly tackled him to the ground, would have if he hadn't had the sense to grab onto the nearest railing. He looked down at her while Okita rounded the corner with two young boys bearing the Kuronuma insignia—a tendril of curving smoke that twisted in a two semi-circles and had a pair of dots above the smallest curve. Behind the boys were two adults, the man was snowy-haired as per the norm of the clan and the woman was the opposite, with night-colored hair, but their eyes were rose-colored, a shade closer to magenta than the usual pale pink.

"For someone that wanted to leave the house so badly, you're surprisingly shy," Shinra commented, releasing her hold on him with a gentle tug. He took her hand and pulled her along to meet Okita in the middle of the hallway. "Asuka, you're looking much more like your mother than the last I saw you."

Asuka, the petite woman, allowed Shinra to embrace her. "Father, you have not been around the house lately, I've been worried," she said in a soft voice. They pulled away from the small greeting and smiled at one another as one expected of a parent and child with a good relationship, complete with a burst of joy. "Fugaku-san has told me about your meddling in the council. I wish you'd stop, your reputation within the Uchiha clan has suffered enough."

Yui's heart caught in her throat as she hid behind her uncle, who tried moving away before she clung to him, because her grandparents only had three children—two girls, one boy. She knew Okita and Isoko, both frequented her home because the former was a part of Emi's Guard and the latter enjoyed the peace the house was known to possess in overabundance. Shinra never spoke about his oldest daughter, didn't even utter her name in her presence because there were rules preventing him from doing so, and if this woman, Asuka, called him father, there was no doubt in her mind that she was the person who had given her life…and abandoned her to her fate.

"What good is a reputation if one cannot ruin it on a whim?" he replied jokingly. "The Uchiha Elders do not frighten me and neither do their gossipy wives and husbands."

"You're not doing any better with the Kuronuma Elders," commented the man beside Asuka. His pale eyebrows were furrowed, his thin lips set in an eternal frown, and his brawny arms folded over his chest. Like most Kuronuma men he stood over six feet two and was bulging with muscle, or "built like a giant" as the saying went. The coldness in his gaze terrified her, though he never directed it at her. "I've received more complaints than your worth."

"Goro," Asuka uttered pleadingly, shooting him a look to mirror the tone of her voice.

Shinra smiled peacefully at the man. "So many frowns, Goro-san, you'll scare the whole building away."

"Father, don't start, he's my husband and you promised to behave," Asuka said accusingly before her eyes fell atop her youngest son's head. "Oh, boys, greet your grandfather."

The scary man would be her father and the boys in question, her brothers. She suddenly felt overwhelmed by familial connections and wanted nothing more than to rush upstairs, away from everyone.

Both young boys inclined their heads in greeting.

"Why is your grip tightening?" complained Okita, glancing at her.

His voice drew the adult's fleeting attention to her and she ducked behind her uncle, out of sight.

Shinra gestured for Yui and she stepped out from her uncle's shadow with a deep frown. Every step forward was a reluctant one and all eyes were on her. She sensed the contents of her stomach start to jumble with her anxiety.

Once she reached him, he placed his hands on her shoulders and gave her a reassuring squeeze. He understood her better than anyone and might have been fully aware of all the freaking out she was about to do. She tensed at the sight of the two boys, both older than she was by a couple years.

"The oldest is Hyosuke"—he waved a hand before the longhaired boy, who like his mother and brother shared the dark hair, whose build was sturdier—"and the youngest is Kouhei." The shortest boy smiled in response, he was tall and slender, complete opposite of his brother. "Behind them are their parents Goro and Asuka, whose presences are completely unnecessary."

"Nice to meet you," she said softly, bowing her head.

Pleasantries were exchanged but nothing more. Yui didn't know what she expected to happen when she found her family, but this obviously wasn't it because she tasted bitter disappointment as Okita redirected them to the room with the others. Goro and Asuka exchanged terse greetings with Fugaku and admitted to their shock that someone of Hatake Sakumo's fame wanted to take this type of job.

"Surely there are more important missions in need of your attention," Goro had said, noting the narrowing in Fugaku's eyes. "Of course, the same goes for you Fugaku-san, what of the Police Force, this is one too many responsibilities. Even my children are pressed for time; no doubt you are as well Etsuya."

"Not as much as I'd like," Etsuya responded. "Plus this sounded like a lot of downtime for a full paycheck and we won't be on the job officially until Yui becomes the Shugosha, but we're still getting paid."

"We get paid?" asked Kouhei incredulously.

"Obviously," Hyosuke told him. "It is a job and it'll count as an S-rank mission on our records."

"Obviously I meant that we get paid when we're off the job," corrected Kouhei.

"Obviously we do appreciate that all of you are taking the trouble to do this job," explained Shinra, earning a look from his granddaughter. "Honestly, the job will be more demanding once Yui inherits the sphere. A guard will be required to remain in the house at all times and the remaining four guards will have a schedule for safeguarding throughout the day. If she is to leave the village, all five of you would need to be assembled for the mission, which will once again count as S-rank on your records, putting aside your duties even if we were in the midst of war, Yui would be your only priority. Of course, you won't need to worry about her inheriting the sphere for another six to seven years. It could take longer, we can't make proper assumptions."

Yui listened to her grandfather's careful explanations while sneaking glances at the people that were supposed to be her family, but throughout the short meeting, none of them acknowledged her as she did. There was only a sense of professionalism, one that everyone expressed with the exception of Uchiha Etsuya that at least attempted to involve her in the conversation. She appreciated his kindness more than she could say, but it didn't help lessen the ache in her chest.

Before the hour ended, everyone with the exception of Hatake Sakumo remained, listening to the finer details to fronting Yui's Guard and Shinra's expressed surprise to his acceptance to the joke invitation.

"That's rude, grandpa," grumbled Yui, sneaking sweets into her pocket.

"I just wanted to stir a little drama," admitted Shinra, taking the candies from her and dropping them back into the bowl.

"With me in the middle?" questioned Sakumo, then smiled and clapped her grandfather in the back. "You never change."

"It was completely unintentional, but I am happier with you at the helm than Fugaku, the Uchiha never misses an opportunity to strengthen their bond with the Kuronuma, and an Uchiha as a Guard's leader is nothing short of a great accomplishment."

"You speak as though your leadership doesn't count," Sakumo commented.

"Nobody likes grandpa," blurted Yui, realizing belatedly that this was a subject she shouldn't have addressed. "He's not considered an Uchiha."

Sakumo looked to her grandfather seriously. "Is that…?"

Shinra nodded. "The girl speaks the truth. My parents being who they are and my marrying a Kuronuma instead of following my brother's example, I am neither here nor there in matters of clanship. It sounds a lot more terrible than it is. I get a lot of liberties and because my parents were who they are, even the Elders are afraid of what one word from me to the Hokage could cause."

"Do not torture the Elders too much," Sakumo advised. He dropped a hand atop Yui's head and mussed her hair. "I'll come back another day; I feel I didn't get a chance to speak to Yui properly."

"I'll accompany you out. I have lives to meddle into and people to upset, Yui say your farewells."

Yui stood, bowed formally. "It was nice meeting you, Hatake-san."

"Your grandmother's cleansing should be over in half an hour, go upstairs and wait for her." Shinra placed the scroll she was supposed to memorize in her hands. "Learn this in the meantime. I won't go easy on you when we go over it in the evening."

"Don't take too long, grandpa," she told him quietly, tucking the scroll into her robes. "It'll be boring without you."

Shinra laughed. "Don't say that about your grandmother."

"I didn't!"

He shot her another easy smile before stepping out of the room with Sakumo in tow. He gave Okita orders to keep an eye on her when they crossed paths on the way out.

Yui returned to her seat, breathing her first sigh of relief. She expected too much from today, from the revelations offered to her, and she didn't like the feeling it all left behind.

Okita slipped into the room. "Something wrong?"

"Grandpa and grandma really like you."

"They're my parents, 'course they like me." He said something wrong because she shrunk in his seat and he quickly made the connection. "You're talking about Goro and Asuka?"

She nodded slowly, tightening her grip on her clothes to steady the emotion threatening to drip from her eyes.

"Okita, please leave us." Her grandmother emerged from the short hall leaving the staircase. The glass sphere hung from her neck had an otherworldly glow after the cleansing.

"You're done early, mother?" he questioned, surprised.

"Yes, so please, if you will." She waved her hand towards the door.

Okita departed quickly.

Emi took a seat beside her, wrapping an arm over her shoulders. "I can sense your distress, little one," she whispered, holding her tightly. "Did the meeting go badly?"

"It was okay."

"Then what is it that's made you feel so badly?"

"Asuka-san and Goro-san…they're my parents," she confided.

"Indeed they are," Emi responded with a brief nod.

It surprised her to hear the confirmation from her grandmother. The topic went on evaded within the house and the only person to address it was her grandfather.

She stared at Emi in disbelief.

"Well it's no use denying it if you're already aware of it," the woman responded. "They are your parents and Hyosuke and Kouhei are your siblings. Let's not forget you have two living grandparents and an aunt and uncle that care for you very much."

Emi gave her shoulders a final squeeze before leaving her as if those words would be enough to forget how indifferent her parents were to her existence. She found herself feeling worse than she did before.

. .

Shinra found her crying on her bed. He took a seat beside her, catching her tears on his thumb. He rubbed the rest away as they dropped. "Why are you crying?"

Yui sniffled and shook her head.

"Is this about today? There were plenty of scary men at the table, but I've added nice ones to balance the team," he whispered, brushing the hair from her face. "And also, don't tell anyone but I've suggested that Sakumo bring his son, he could teach you a thing or two."

"You said visits from outsiders were forbidden," she remarked, sniveling.

"I did, but you see, the agreement I've made with Sakumo is that if he is indisposed, his son would take his place, he's young, but he's accomplished. He's already a Chunin at his age." He leaned forward, hand cupped over the side of his face. "I haven't gotten around to telling the clan and probably won't, so let's keep this a secret from the whole house."

"A Chunin! I thought you said he was my age."

"He's a prodigy."

"That's unfair! He's got really good genes! I've heard all about the White Fang and how great he is!"

"Honestly, Yui, you shouldn't be jealous. He's tried hard enough to earn what he's gotten; it has nothing to do with who his father is. Well…I mean it might've influence him, but that's not the point." He carefully rubbed under her eyes. "Look how red your eyes are, how long have you been crying?"

Shinra had said her parents loved her and that in their situation there was nothing they could do about her being the Shugosha.

Now, she wanted to accuse her grandfather of lying, shout it at the top of her lungs until the burn of her own sadness gave under the release. She thought it unfair that she didn't have the right to know that her own parents abandoned her for being who she was. She couldn't explain that she had no choice but to be the Shugosha because that's what the Elders, her aunt, her uncle, and grandparents always told her. There was no need for dreams and expectations because her entire life had already been decided.

She had a handmaid that picked out the clothes and accessories she wore every day, there were cooks that decided what she was allowed to eat, and the Elders kept her imprisoned in the manor for her own safety.

It was irritating to live in a world where the outcome of her future was a result of everyone else's will but her own. She would even have to marry a man as soon as she came of age and even that had been decided. Although, her future betrothed had no name, he would have to overcome a series of trials and face off against other potential candidates, most of which had been handpicked from the moment of her birth, until he won the right to marry her.

Her life was supposed to make sense. It would be simple, requiring no effort on her behalf.

She didn't understand it and quite frankly, she didn't care for it because she longed to comprehend why anyone in the world had the heart to renounce her upon her birth. Who would abandon her when she needed them the most?

"You have Emi and myself," Shinra said understandingly. "We have done our best to keep you happy for the sake of your parents."

"But they saw me," she wept. "They saw me and didn't care. What did I do wrong?"

Her lower lip trembled in indignation. He understood nothing at all of the pain she wished she could express.

"Your parents did not abandon you," he repeated firmly. "There are laws restricting them from being near you that's why they were so tense when they saw you. I can assure you—"

"I just wanted them to notice me a bit," she cried unreasonably. Even if they were sneaking glances, she would have been fine, but they never looked her way. She was invisible to them.

Shinra embraced her. "I am here for you." There was no arguing with her grandfather, he was a lot more stubborn than he looked. "And I won't leave you so soon."

- : - : -

Hatake Sakumo returned as promised, a few days into the following week but faithful to his announcement, and trailing along behind him was his son, the prodigy.

The first words to leave her mouth when the adults left them in the garden were complimented by an impudent frown and a mocking tone. "You don't look like a prodigy."

Not that she pretended to be an expert in what she imagined prodigies were supposed to look like. The obvious answer would have been like a normal person, but she enjoyed the notion of a prodigy as a mythical creature from storybooks because she had limited exposure to the world outside her home and the people that frequented it.

Sakumo's son held a strong resemblance to him with the same facial structure, gray hair, and dark eyes. Although where his father's had a kind looking face, he simply looked jaded even with the mask pulled over the lower half of his face.

"Did you expect two heads?" he challenged, arms folded over his chest. "Maybe three eyes or an extra ear? Sorry to disappoint you, princess, I'm not that kind of prodigy."

"Are there really two-headed, three-eyed, extra eared prodigies outside?" she asked innocently, face drawn in confusion. "Why are you normal?"

He blinked for several minutes. "You really don't leave this place, do you?"

"No, why?"

"No reason," he replied, looking around the garden with piqued interest. He stepped around her and followed the short gravel path towards the black barked tree she tried to climb last week. "What kind of tree is this?"

"It doesn't have a name," she answered after chasing him toward it.

He glimpsed at her. "Is it a fruit tree?"

"It's a flower tree. It blooms in the middle of winter…if it's cold enough."

"What's cold enough?"

"Grandma says it never gets that cold here."

He stepped closer to the bark, reaching to touch it hesitantly. "So what's your name?"

"Yui," she said, watching his movements in interest. "What about you?"

"Kakashi."

She smiled.

"Yui, upstairs now," ordered Shinra from the sitting room, gesturing for her to take Kakashi with her.

"Come with?" she asked, looking at him.

Kakashi looked to his father for approval, Sakumo nodded.

Yui reached forward to take him by the hand and pull him along when her grandfather's voice rang warningly. "No, Yui."

She jerked her hand away before it clamped down over his and started toward the open sitting room, beckoning him to follow.

"Make sure you're quiet for your grandmother."

"Yes, grandpa."

Shortly after reaching the staircase at the end of the hallway, she heard Okita and Isoko's voices emerge from the opposite end of the garden. She hurried up the rest of the stairs, casting glances behind her to make sure Kakashi had followed.

The second landing mostly consisted of storage rooms, more accurately referred to as a treasure trove for all Kuronuma items of interest, but it did have a sitting room that faced the garden.

"So you can't touch people?"

Yui flushed in embarrassment as he appeared in front of her, not because he surprised her but because he asked an uncomfortable question about one of the many reasons for her grandfather gave for her confinement. "I can."

He raised his hand to her shoulder and she slammed into the nearest wall making him laugh. "Obviously you can't."

"It's certain people," she tried, relieved when he backed away.

He noticed the reaction, but didn't step further away. "Is that why you don't leave this place?"

"The Elders don't let me leave."

"Why?"

"It's not allowed."

"Did they at least give you a reason?"

"No."

"Then why are you listening to them?"

"Because I can't not listen to them."

"Just cover your ears and pretend you didn't hear them. What's the worst that could happen?" He shrugged.

"I'll get kidnapped and killed," she blurted, heart hammering in her chest. Despite all the elaborate escape plots she worked so hard on, she only planned to venture a few feet from the wall encasing her home. Maybe she'd will herself to meet some other Kuronuma or pay a visit to the academy which was supposed to be near, but all the talk of wanting to explore all of Konoha was mostly that, talk—a dream—because listening to the downside to her future occupation scared her half to death. "I'm not the Shugosha, but I'm her successor and if I go outside, I'll be kidnapped and killed so there'll be no one to inherit the sphere when my grandmother's time ends—I don't want to die yet, and—"

"Isn't that why you get bodyguards?" he interrupted, arching an eyebrow.

"Well, yeah, but they protect the house."

"Just protect the house?"

She nodded.

He seemed satisfied with her response and looked towards the stairs when the conversation below grew louder. And then she heard the creak of the bottom step.

"I'm going up for Yui," announced Okita.

"Yui is in the middle of meditation, don't disturb her," Shinra stated, emphasizing most of his next sentence. "She'd probably jump out the window in shock."

Okita took another step forward, the wood croaked under his weight. "It's important, I'm sure she won't mind the disturbance."

Yui shot Kakashi a panicked look.

"What is it?" he asked.

"You're not supposed to be here," she whispered, spotting the window at the end of the hallway. "Outsiders aren't allowed in and grandpa hasn't told the elders about you."

"Do you honestly want to send your only niece flying out the window?" questioned Shinra, a bit louder that time.

"Let's jump out the window," he deadpanned.

"But I can't go outside," she stressed, heart jolting when her uncle took yet another step up the staircase. "It's dangerous there."

He sighed. "What should I tell the two-headed, three-eyed, extra eared prodigies that want to meet you?"

"Out the window! Okita! She will be out the window immediately!"

"I think your grandfather approves," he told her, half-turning towards the window in question.

"I once disturbed your grandmother during meditation and she _jumped out the window_!"

"Ugh, fine!"

Yui followed him to the window, heart beating a mile a minute.

Kakashi climbed the sill and offered his hand. "What's the worst that can happen?"

"Grandpa says my skin'll melt off!" she protested weakly.

"That doesn't happen," he assured her, staring at her like she just hacked up a goat.

"It doesn't?"

"No, look." When he grabbed her hand and she only felt that it was warm, but nothing happened as described by her grandfather. "Do you feel you're melting?"

"No."

"You should probably know that your grandfather is a liar."

She'd planned to settle that matter with her grandfather later.

Okita's steps grew closer and she joined Kakashi on the sill, expecting for her uncle to round the corner and catch them red-handed when the young shinobi tugged her onto his back and jumped. He landed briefly on the edge of the black wall with a grunt and then onto the paved ground below.

The world beyond the black brick wall surrounding her large home sent a thrill down her spine. She reopened her eyes to the possibilities rather than the consequences of their actions and she wanted to see more.


End file.
